Far-Seer (Quintaglio Ascension #1)by Robert J. SawyerThis novel is one of my favorites and is the reason I read more from Robert Sawyer. It is a short easy read (an old fashion sort of book before giant tomes and endless series came in to fashion) None of his other books of series brought me to place that this one did. The idea of an entire dinosaur civilization with no ‘human’ observer just captured me. The world building is fascinating, a religion that supplanted older gods (the five Hunters) involves worshiping a god that lives in the sky. There is a ritual pilgrimage that all Quintaglios (as they call themselves) undertake that involves sailing to a place where they can see the face of god. The story if full of nice world building touches like that. Niceties of interaction between individuals of a species of carnivores, a ritual hunt as a rite of passage. No agriculture, but stock yards of domesticated plant eaters. Also, no family structure as eggs are laid in a common hatchery. Published in 1993, this is a sort of story I just don’t see these days. Even though it isn’t completely flawless, I have to give this one 5 stars for the nostalgia and the way I just loved it at the time.Told in third person limited POV, the story follows a young apprentice astrologer Afsan. (view spoiler)[From the very first chapter we find that he has a tendency to asks questions that he isn’t supposed to. When a stranger offers his master a new invention called a far-seer (a telescope) Afsan is of course excited and wants to use it to exam the face of god; his master Saleed however makes it clear he will tolerate no such nonsense.Soon, it is time for Afsan to go on his ritual hunt then make his pilgrimage and we meet his friend prince Dybo who is of similar age and he agrees to both with his friend. It is during his meeting with the hunt leader Jal-Tetex that the author introduces the concept of a religious prophecy promising ‘A hunter - The One - who shall lead the greatest hunt of all.’ They go on the hunt and Afsan is hurt but quickly recovers and they set sail on their quest. Robert Sawyer does a really excellent job of setting up the friendship of Afsan and Dybo. Dybo is the pampered prince, the funny one, a little bit cavalier. Afsan is the scholar of the two.On his journey, he finally gets to turn the far-seer toward the sky and studies the planets, noting they were very like the moons. When he finally gets to see the ‘Face of God”, he makes the astonishing discovery that it too goes through phases, waxing and waning just like the moons and planets. He defies the orders of his master and gazes on the Face using his far-seer. Seeing details like a whirlpool, and fluid gas like properties. (The read should get the hint that it is a gas giant like Jupiter). It doesn’t take Afsan long to figure out the planets revolve around the sun, and moons revolve around planets, and they their own world (simply called ‘the Land’) was actually a moon, and that the so called eyes of God were really the moons’ shadows. He goes super fast from making these discoveries (which he makes really quickly, sort of condensing several life times of discovery in our world) to atheism. It does seem obvious to ask the question of if we need a creator then doesn’t god require one too? Then immediately, who created the creator’s creator? From there, you can only go to it is turtles (armourbacks) all the way down. Sometimes Sawyer gets too cute with making his aliens not only too human but having direct copies of our history and stories instead of analogs or parallels. Afsan, having figured the world is a sphere, calculates the diameter and figures that the voyage to the Face of God is half way around the world, and instead of going back the way they came, they could just keep going and get home (on the other side of the island/continent.) Robert Sawyer is a bit naive in his thought that sailors could sail half way around the world (it took them about 145 days of sailing) and think they are in a river. In fact on a small world, the curvature would be even more obvious. The captain is swayed when Afsan helps to kill a Pliosaur and agree to keep sailing in the same direction. Something he most certainly wouldn’t do if he didn’t already know the world was round. Of course the priest objects, but the captain is a secret (or not so secret) Lubilite (follows of the old religion of the five hunters). 304 days after they left, they touch the shore on the opposite side of their land. With news that his mother the Empress is dead Dybo, now Emperor rushes back to the Capital while Afsan seeks out the maker of the Far-seer. A female named Novato who has also been studying the objects in the sky. With a larger far-seer and plenty of time she has made detailed sketches of her observations which included rings around some of the planets.They quickly (like super quickly because it is that kind of book) realize that their own world being so close to the planet they circle is in danger of coming apart. There are already quakes that make building nearly impossible and every sign that they are getting worse. They hit it off so well the in true dino fashion they have some causal sex then say goodbye.On the way back to the Capital, Alfsan stops by his pack’s creche so that Robert Sawyer can introduce another aspect of the Quintaglio society - they have blood priests who eat 7 out of every clutch of 8. He then makes it back just in time to tell his dying master everything he has discovered. Unfortunately, and not unexpectedly, his observations are not well received. Even though the Emperor is his close friend and was on the same pilgrimage, Alfsan ends up in prison. Unbeknownst to Alfsan, his exploits have inspired the followers of Lubal (who must do so in secret) to proclaim that he is “The One” and they plot some sort of revolution. They are not in time to save Alfsan from being blinded. He is set free - presumed helpless and no longer a threat. Even blinded, he is charismatic, and leads the Lubalites ones they reveal themselves to him and announce he is their prophesied prophet. In the mist of a blood bath show down between the Lubalites and the loyalist, a catastrophic earthquake hits the capital.After escaping, Alfsan reconnects with Novato who now has his eight children. And surprisingly Dybo. His city is in ruins, but he is still in power and with the high priest dead and talking one on one with Alfsan, he is more reasonable. He agrees to set up a project for Quintaglio exodus putting Novato in charge. The story ends on an upbeat hopeful note with them believing they can reach the stars - a lofty goal for a society with almost no technology. (hide spoiler)]
Originally posted on JournalStoneA planet inhabited by sentient dinosaurs whose society is analogous to Europe during the Renaissance. Afsan, the apprentice astrologer, embarks on an ocean pilgrimage to see the Face of God. But this voyage is different from everyone else’s. Afsan has with him a new invention: a far-seer (a telescope), and he does something with it no other Quintaglio has ever done before. He looks at the Face of God. Then he turns the far-seer to the rest of the sky, and concludes his people are not worshipping God at all. God is a planet.Originally published in 1992 and finally back in print, the first book of Sawyer’s Quintaglio Ascension Trilogy takes place on an alien world entirely from the point of view of the aliens themselves. These aliens happen to be sentient Tyrannosaurus-rexes.Sawyer’s skill as a writer comes through perfectly. Everything about this book is superbly executed. Sawyer doesn’t just tell a story, he builds a society. For example, the Quintaglios are fiercely territorial. In their society, merely stepping too close to another person is an act of aggression and can accelerate into a fight to the death (dagamant).Afsan is an active main character. Sawyer does not fall into the trap of telling the story from a passive, observant perspective. Afsan is active. He goes on a ritual hunt and is the one to make the kill in the most spectacular way possible. Not only is he an intellectual, he’s a fighter, but Afsan is not the exception. He’s not the best at everything simply because he’s the main character. He is actually normal for a Quintaglio. Their entire species lives this way. They are fighters. They are territorial. They are killers. And they believe in God.That’s the focus of this novel. Their religion. Sawyer builds it up very well, creating religious practices inspired by their environment and their own nature. Sure, at first it’s easy to dismiss it as a disguised Catholic church, but because it makes sense in the context of the society Sawyer creates, it’s easy to accept as their unique religion.For example, one of their religious practices is called the “culling.” Each Quintaglio female lays a clutch of 8 eggs. Because their landmass is so small and their territorial aggression so extreme, overpopulation is a great concern. So it became a ritual tradition for one Quintaglio called a “bloodpriest” to eat all but one hatchling after the eggs hatch. Generally, the one that is spared is the one that runs away fastest.It makes sense for a species of dinosaurs, so it is acceptable on their terms. Sawyer presents it so logically and his world-building is so superb I understood this culture it as though I lived it myself.During Afsan’s pilgrimage to the Face of God, he makes an astonishing discovery. It is not God at all. It is a planet. Specifically, their world orbits a gas giant. The “eyes” that move along God’s face are actually other moons. Afasn deduces this by observing the heavens with the new invention of the far-seer.But he doesn’t stop there. He sets out to prove that they are living on a planet just like the ones he observed in the heavens by asking the ship’s captain to sail around the world. He’s willing to risk his life to prove he’s right. It’s not easy getting the rest of the ship to go along with it, but he prevails.After his pilgrimage, Afasn meets the inventor of the far-seer, and they compare notes. Their time together leads them to yet another astonishing revelation. The end of the world is coming. Afsan expects people to listen to him, but to his surprise, his discoveries are met with criticism and anger.The church does not like what he has to say either. The church thinks it knows everything already, and will do anything to punish the one who speaks blasphemy. Even crippling Afsan. We recognize this story--the book even calls itself an allegory of Galileo.The church is supposed to stand for truth, and yet it is trying to silence the one person who knows the truth. This puts the reader on Afsan’s side the whole way. We all believe we know the truth, and everyone in the world is trying to keep us quiet because they don’t want to face what it means. Like Galileo, this is literally true for Afsan, so everyone can empathize with him a great deal.The scope of the story is enormous. It’s about Afsan. It’s about their species. It’s about their whole planet! The world-building is top-notch and well thought out, and the characters are memorable and likeable. It’s easy to slip into this culture of dinosaurs and understand it as if it were your own.
What do You think about Far-Seer (2004)?
Sawyer has captivated me with his explicitly theological and philosophical explorations through science fiction adventure. This is the earliest one I've read by him and it seemed a little clunkier than his more recent work, but I still enjoyed it and will probably end up reading the rest of the trilogy. A species of highly evolved, sentient Tyrannosaurs (Quintaglios) play out a thinly veiled version of human history through some well-known characters (Galileo, for example, in this volume). "...maybe it wasn't just individuals who went through rites of passage on their way to adulthood. Maybe his whole species had to do that...And what is to come? What awaited the Quintaqlio race, after its childhood's end?"What indeed? Lucky this is just a fantasy about dinosaurs...
—Rod
Far-Seer has always been one of my favorite Sawyers, along with the other two books in the Quintaglio Ascension. A race of dinosaurs shake off the chains of religion and take to the enlightenment...on steroids. To me, this trilogy seemed a bit like Gibson's Neuromancer, high concpet work that the author struggled to match with later stories. I like Rob Sawyer's work quite well, but he only occasionally comes up to the level he held here. Fortunately, as in his WWW trilogy, it does happen. Gibson, on the other hand, writes interesting stuff, but never quite makes orbit.
—Ernest
Very good. After reading www:watch, I didn't want to read another Sawyer book. But this was well worth it. Afsan was a very likeable protagonist, and the action kept moving at a good pace. Sawyer's descriptions of the action were very well written. The one thing where Sawyer lost me was the sudden jump to the realization that the rings were broken up moons. I thought it should have been several decades or generations before they Quintaglio should have the math to understand that part of astronomy.
—Angraecus Daniels
